Gov. Jeff Landry
BATON ROUGE – A Louisiana state court judge has disqualified a law firm from representing plaintiffs in a case against the state.
In a June 29 ruling, 19th Judicial District Court Judge Richard “Chip” Moore disqualified Baker Donelson from representing the plaintiffs in Faulk v. Landry. The judge said the firm’s conflict required consent from the governor or attorney general. Moore also dissolved the temporary restraining order previously entered against the state in the case.
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz is a large firm with offices across the southeast.
Murrill
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office had argued Baker Donelson could not represent Governor Jeff Landry in active litigation while suing him in this case.
“Great job by my Solicitor General and his staff,” Murrill said of Monday’s ruling. “This was a serious conflict, and the court got it right. A law firm cannot represent the governor in one courtroom and sue him in another without proper consent.
The governor and the Legislature made a commitment to our teachers. With the temporary restraining order dissolved, I am hopeful we can all move forward with the pay raise that our teachers deserve.”
The state has terminated its contracts with Baker Donelson.
The case focuses on Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan to cut public school budgets to pay for teacher stipends. The plan, which is set to take effect July 1, will cut funding for public schools by $168 million this school year and use the money to give $2,000 stipends to teachers and $1,000 to school support staff.
Since 2024, Baker Donelson had represented Louisiana in a class-action lawsuit regarding the state’s foster care system. The firm had argued a 2023 waiver of conflicts allowed it to represent clients taking legal action against the state while also defending the state in separate cases. That waiver was signed by Landry, who then was Louisiana’s attorney general.
The firm also said it has represented the state more than 50 times since 2023 but hadn’t been accused of a conflict of interest until the school funding case.
